Damsel in Distress
by iruusu
Summary: Judal had promised himself not to wait up for that Stupid Prince, but at the very first sound of Sinbad's voice from the tower window, Judal was already rushing to meet him. [Rapunzel AU]


**A/N: crossposting everything from my other accounts haha.. all feedback is appreciated !**

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"Princess!"

The call came with the rap of a pebble thrown at the stained glass window, and Judal turned, eyes narrowed, but didn't budge from where he sat on the bed.

"Princess! Let down your hair!"

The call came again, with a louder ding from a bigger pebble, and Judal convinced himself when he went to the window that he was only intrigued at how that idiot ever managed to throw a rock so far and so high.

"Isn't it a bit late for you to be out making a fool of yourself?" called Judal when he threw open the window, and though the sky was beginning to darken he could still make out Sinbad grinning up at him from the ground with a basket of fruit slung over his arm. Judal's features twisted into a frown, and he set his pale forearms on the dusty windowsill with a huff. "You said that you'd be here earlier."

"I'm sorry," said Sinbad, and Judal could barely tell whether he meant it. "A meeting ran late. Royal affairs can be rather time consuming, you know." When Judal seemed unimpressed, he added, "it took a while to find fresh peaches out of season."

"Whatever," said Judal.

"Are you going to let me up now, or do you plan to keep being stubborn?"

Judal whistled. "Normally I would, but it's too bad I got a haircut."

There was silence for a moment, in which Sinbad, recovering from his state of shock, eventually realized that Judal wasn't serious. "You're very cruel to me, you know."

"You deserve it," Judal teased, and blew a kiss out the window. He was almost certain that Sinbad was smiling.

"Come on, let your hair down to me, Princess," he called with a laugh. "I promise I'll be gentle with it."

Never one to really deny him, Judal finally conceded, and let his long, dark hair spill like liquid over the tower ledge, tumbling down into Sinbad's waiting hands. Sinbad was always rather gentle when he climbed Judal's hair, or at least he tried to be, and that was what mattered. Back when Gyokuen had been in their lives, her touch with his hair was always rough and careless, but thankfully Judal hadn't seen the old witch in months, and he doubted that he ever would again.

It wasn't another moment until Sinbad reached the window, and Judal wasn't sure why he offered a pale hand to help him in, but he did, and Sinbad took it and entered with an alarming amount of grace. Sinbad stood before Judal then, looking too composed for one who had just clambered up seventy feet of hair, and he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Thanks," said Sinbad with a smile. "I missed you."

"You were here only yesterday," said Judal, carefully leaning over the ledge to bring up his hair again, coiling it like rope over his arm. "Or did you forget about me already?"

"Of course not," Sinbad said, wounded in an almost comical way. "I could never forget about you."

"Whatever you say," Judal rolled his eyes, but the words had touched him, somewhere deep. Gyokuen had always taught him that men were never to be trusted, that he could never trust any humans other than she, and while Judal knew that couldn't be true it was hard to forget the things she'd taught him through the years. Judal could trust Sinbad, or at least he wanted to trust him. Sinbad was always kind and gentle, and talked to him and brought him peaches and helped him with his hair, and Judal knew it must've been a lot to come and visit him every day, but Sinbad made the effort anyways. As he hummed softly to himself, he couldn't help but find the gesture rather sweet.

After a while he'd finished bringing up his hair, and Judal hadn't noticed when Sinbad's hand had come to his lower back to steady him. The realization startled him, and Judal nudged away as he shut the windows with a forceful clang. "Can I have my peaches now?"

"Ah! Of course," said Sinbad, reaching into the basket for a ripe peach. "For you, fair princess," he teased, holding it out to Judal with a smile.

Heat flooded to Judal's cheeks as he snatched it away. "Shut up, stupid prince," he grumbled, taking a bite, but his blush only deepened as he felt Sinbad's gaze on him. "Thank you for bringing them."

"Anything for you," said Sinbad, smiling bright, and the look in his eyes was something between fondness and adoration. Judal had to look away to keep himself composed.

"I almost wish that I could come down from this tower," said Judal softly, "just for the peaches."

Sinbad's features softened when Judal took a seat on the bed, still nibbling at his peach, and he dared to take a seat beside him. "You can always come down, you know."

"I know," began Judal, toying at a lock of hair with his free hand. "It would be nice, wouldn't it?"

Sinbad said, "it would. You'd always have a place at the palace with me."

"Really?"

"Of course," Sinbad assured. "I'd love to have you come home with me. You would love it there, I know you would. And you'd look so beautiful in royal clothing."

Judal laughed softly to himself, lowered his head and brushed a lock of hair behind his ear. "You really think so?"

"Oh, I'm sure of it. And all of the people there, the citizens, they'd just love you."

"I'm not so sure about that one," Judal muttered to himself. He took a final bite of his peach, feeling a bit more satisfied as he tossed aside the pit, and sighed. "It would be nice to get out for some fresh air though."

Sinbad said, "definitely. I think you'd really like the royal gardens. There are lots of peaches."

"Well, that's motivation enough," said Judal with a laugh. "I'd like that."

Sinbad smiled, the gentle turn of his lips, and Judal forgot why he'd ever questioned to trust him at all. "I can just see you there with me now, in the gardens, laughing and eating your peaches and braiding flowers into your beautiful long hair." He took a moment's pause to toy gently with a stray lock of Judal's long hair, smiling at the way his blush deepened further. "Can't you see it too?"

"Stop it," said Judal, swatting lightly at his arm, "before you really make me cry."

"I didn't mean for that," said Sinbad, chuckling softly in a way that indicated more fondness than mockery, but Judal shot him a glare nonetheless. "Come back with me, Princess."

Judal heaved a long, deep breath, and his shoulders rose and fell with the sigh. "I'm just... I don't know. I'm still... nervous."

Sinbad set a hand on Judal's shoulder, and watched with concern at the way that he tensed. "Gyokuen has been gone for months. She'll never hurt you again, I promise you."

"I-I know," said Judal, feeling rather silly. "I just... I don't know. I've lived my whole life here." He took a deep breath before he managed the courage to admit, "I'm scared."

"It's okay to be scared," Sinbad assured, and when Judal looked at him his eyes seemed so soft, like pools of molten gold, and his chest tightened at the sight. And then, Sinbad took Judal's hand into his own and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of it. "I'll always protect you, Judal."

Judal looked as though he were going to burst at just the simple gesture, turning his head with an impossibly deep blush. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do," Sinbad assured, smiling. "Always."

With that, he leaned forward to press a soft, warm kiss against Judal's lips. Judal had grown used to the feeling, but he still gasped and tensed as though it were the first time, as though he'd never felt another's lips against his. He could feel the smile worried into Sinbad's lips when he kissed him, warm and gentle and there, and for that moment, nothing else mattered.

"What was that for?" asked Judal, softly, lips trembling once Sinbad pulled away.

"Leave this place," said Sinbad, lips pulled into a smile. "Come home with me."

There was silence for a moment, and Judal was totally still, but then he nodded slowly, gnawing at his lower lip, and then the nods grew more frantic as he went on. "Okay," he said, "alright. I'll go home with you."

"What was that?"

"I said I will go with you!" said Judal again, but this time like he meant it, and he was almost smiling for real. "I'll go back to your palace with you. We can go together."

Sinbad's whole face brightened at the answer. "Do you mean that?"

"Of course I do," said Judal, and he barely realized what was happening when Sinbad picked him up and swung him around in his arms, and they were both laughing by the time Judal's hair had tangled them together and they stumbled hopelessly back onto the bed.

"I'll go with you, Sinbad," Judal said again, smiling, and Sinbad's grin was brighter than it had ever been before. "Let's go home."

Sinbad said, "anything for you, Princess," and it hardly took a moment for Judal to kiss him back.


End file.
